


Let Me In (After Operating Hours Ver.)

by areyoufr



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Light Angst, Magical Realism, Museum AU, One-Sided Attraction, jinsoul is mentioned, lipseul - Freeform, sanitary engineer/janitor! haseul, sculpture! kim lip, vivi and heejin show up for like 3 seconds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:49:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25071913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/areyoufr/pseuds/areyoufr
Summary: In which Haseul is a janitor with a night shift, and Kim Lip is a sculpture that springs to life every night. Despite being at the same place at the same time, they wonder why they never seem to meet.
Relationships: Jo Haseul/Kim Jungeun | Kim Lip
Comments: 10
Kudos: 51





	Let Me In (After Operating Hours Ver.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to ao3 user @/sleepoverdose for the title! Check out their stories as well. 
> 
> Some museums actually operate lesser hours than what was mentioned in the story, so kindly take that information here with a grain of salt. Also, I hope the spacing is okay. 
> 
> *The summary is not wrong (maybe you'd get confused if it aligns with the story).

For the past twelve hours, Kim Jungeun — or as her museum label says, _Kim Lip (1999) —_ was stuck in the same pose: left arm above her face, as if she's blocking the sunlight (the museum lights, actually), and her right arm extended backward, as if she's dancing. She's in this eternal pose of bending backwards, and this permanent dress that made her shoulders feel cold. And that's because she's Kim Lip, Jung Jinsoul's sculpted dancer who thrives off sunlight but hates it at the same time. 

"This Kim Lip looks fake deep to me," says one of the tourists peering in on the sculpture. "She seems to be posed for the sake of dramatic or romanticized art. . ." 

"Ma'am, this is the _Bite Off the Hand that Feeds You_ collection," Jo Haseul, the janitor in blue uniform, cuts off with a smile. "All artworks zero in back to the theme of taking things for granted. As you can see, even the pre-positioned museum lights point to her."

Jungeun couldn't see, but she knows the tourist is annoyed. Even she herself doesn't know why Haseul is doing this. The latter had practically cried on day one of their first meeting, acted as her casual, unpaid therapist, and had initiated multiple "friendly" conversations, and now. . . defending? Really? 

This girl had it bad. For no reason at all. Kim Lip is just some sculpture in the museum. 

"It's just my opinion." 

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I understand." 

The conversation dies down as the tourist moves on to _Olivia Hye (2001_ ) on her left.

The museum closes at night in the same manner, though: like a conversation dying down. Lights turn off the place the same way dominos fall down in order, but sometimes the middle domino would fall first before the ones standing at the end of the chain. 

When the museum is practically dead — void of life and all — Kim Lip is the only sculpture that can be the opposite, and still paintings are able to move once she gets _inside_ of its world. 

Just like right now.

Kim Lip springs to life, her arms and legs no longer stiff from the pose. She blinks and stretches, taking her a short while before noticing the short-haired girl from a distance, covered in the darkness. 

"Haseul-unnie?" Her voice sounds raspy. 

"Oh, finally!" Haseul turns to her with a bright smile, eyes turning to crescents. That's how people described it, right? "I've been waiting for you to 'wake up'! How are you feeling today?"

"Same as usual. I'm done talking about it." Because that was one of their only topics ever since Day One. _How are you feeling? How does it feel being a sculpture?_

_Where do you want to go?_

Like a therapist. 

"Are you ready to leave? Because I am!" 

The enthusiasm is both surprising and predictable. Haseul had been like this ever since. "You're so excited. . ." 

"Of course I am! You told me you had plans, right?" 

"Yeah, I think I did." 

"You said something about a clockmaker?" 

Jungeun pointed at the painting on the far left of the room. She really had no recollection of saying that one, but if the wind blows to that direction, then . . . "Have you met Yerim?" 

Haseul tilts her head. "Who?" 

Jungeun couldn't help but smile. "She's in that painting. I want you to meet her." 

"So that's her name, then, okay. I'd love to meet her." 

"I think I mentioned her to you before." 

"I don't remember, honest." 

Haseul holds her hand out, surprising Jungeun a bit. The latter presses her hand on it, as she steps down the platform she was in. Her bare feet touch the wooden floor. 

They feel cold. A huge contrast to Haseul's warm hand. 

"The floor is clean."

Haseul nods. 

"I like it."

"I'm glad you do. That's my hard work right there. Now, lead the way!" 

Finally, they end up in front of a still painting of a purple-haired girl. The museum label on the side says _The Clockmaker during the End of Time (2001)_ ("I never told you about it, but it's a mouthful name," Haseul said before), and Jungeun doesn't bother looking at the repetitive words as she pulls the other girl towards it.

"You go first." 

"Dude, I can't get in unless you go." 

Jungeun taps her head. "Right, I forgot!" Then she supports herself using the frame and climbs inside, landing on the creaking wooden floor. When she looks back, a small rectangular mirror is there. She reaches out and feels Haseul's uniform, then pulls her inside. 

"That hurt!" Haseul screeches, landing on Jungeun. "I hate being human." 

" _But_ you agreed to go here." 

"Yeah, I did. What about it?" Before Jungeun could answer, Haseul already stood up and offered her hand — again. "Where's she? Gah! You're heavy."

"And you," Jungeun says as she stands up, "are saying a lot of things." Then she looks around the shop — a small one with wooden walls, with the window facing an eternal half-darkness and half-light. She looks out there again and finds the same ol' people running. 

"Oh, that's so tragic." Haseul rests her head on Jungeun's shoulder — something they both got used to at some point. "Can we go outside?"

"You can't talk to them."

"That's too bad." Haseul's hair is honestly tickling. Jungeun turns around to let the other go. 

Awkwardly, the other leans back. 

"Where's Yerim?" 

"Here!" The said girl steps out from some door, holding two arrows. Her face brightens a bit upon seeing a new face. "Hello, you must be. . ?" 

"Haseul. Nice to meet you!"

"She's older, Yerim. Call her _unnie_." 

Haseul nudges her by the elbow. "So! Yerim, right?" 

"Yes!" She kicks the door closed with her foot. "Jungeun-unnie introduced me? She told me stuff about y—"

"You're adopting kids again and it's annoying." Jungeun rolls her eyes. This happened once with Olivia Hye, but ever since then she doesn't spring back to life. Maybe she preferred being still. 

Anyway, it's not Jungeun's business. Maybe Olivia will spring back soon. 

Yerim drops the arrows on her workdesk. "These are for my new clocks."

"Where do they go?"

"She throws them out the window." She knows Yerim like she's her own daughter. "Random people needs clocks. And besides, she never runs of ingredients, and people never get tired of running. . ." She stops, because she's not making sense. 

For Jinsoul, the creator of it all, taking things for granted does not always make sense. The fruit of hard work goes to waste — in ways that can't even be rationalized to answer the question _why._

"Actually, yes, I just throw them away and someone else would catch it. I don't know how that works because the last time I went outside, I was almost sucked in."

Haseul frowns. "That's awful." 

Yerim grins. "No it's not, unnie. Anyway, here are a couple of arrows. You guys can touch them if you want." 

Haseul does it first. She puts one arrow on the spacious part of the table, and she spins it to the right — clockwise. 

Jungeun does the same, only counterclockwise. Little did she know. . .   
  


-  
  
  


As days go by, Jungeun starts to notice the "one-sidedness" of their friendship-slash-relationship. That is because when they decided to travel to _Storage in the Ocean (2002),_ Jungeun found Haseul staring back at her when they were looking at their reflections on the water. 

(Far away from all the garbage on the other side.) 

"By the way, is everything okay? You seem so out of it lately." 

That is not the question Jungeun often encounters with her other subject-of-the-art friends, like Olivia Hye — or Hyejoo to others —, Yerim, Hyunjin, and Chaewon. 

Maybe that's why she's drawn to Haseul so much, because she pays attention. She can break free off the "big sister" or "mom" role. 

"Uh. Do I?"

"Yeah." 

Jungeun shrugs. "I think I'm like this all the time, though?"

Haseul's eyes shift from her to the clocktower behind her. "Maybe that's just me?" 

Jungeun just stared at her. She didn't know what to say. It's too overwhelming. 

"Sorry." She shakes her head. "I made things awkward. I'll do better." 

Jungeun felt a little bad for being a little unresponsive. "You can keep it that way, unnie," she _tries_ to encourage, with a smile. "I'm okay with the way you are." 

"I appreciate that. . ."

At this point, Jungeun noticed that it was time to wake up. Time to shift the focus of the conversation. She had tirelessly and consistently talked to Haseul about her perspective for weeks, and yet she hadn't heard much from the other girl apart from her name and job. 

"Did anything happen to you today? Um, like anything interesting?" 

She rarely had these conversations before. And if she did, she hardly remembered. Most of the people here only moan and whine about the repetitiveness of it all. Nothing really happens. 

"Oh, you're cute."

"I'm asking about you." 

"Okay, then. Nothing much. It's _freezing_ , because it's snowing. I ate with a friend, she told me about a new job, um, my favorite band guested in a radio show today, and. . . that's it." 

"Guested?" Jungeun asks quietly. 

"Guested, meaning they were guests of someone else's program."

Jungeun still did not understand. 

"You won't care," Haseul warns. She's wrong. Jungeun spent up her years locked up in some place, posing in front of auctioners, students, artists, and tourists, and the last thing she wants to know about is herself. 

"I do. Please tell me." 

Those words came out awkward out of her mouth, like the uncomfortable moisty skin in hot places. Haseul looks amused, though, and maybe Jungeun did a good job. 

However, the sculpture feels awkward, so she gets down and lowers herself in the water. The cold water embraces her immediately. 

"But why are you asking?" 

"Don't make me say it." 

Both of them never said anything about it being the first time. They both know it's a start. 

"Anyway, I'm just happy it's not too cold in here. The snow can be a little bothersome, too."   
  
  


-  
  
  


"You've been posing for hours. I wonder what's on your mind."

On one of the nights that Haseul had finished her cleaning, Jungeun felt more comfortable inviting her to some of her nooks in the paintings. This one is called _Abandoned Dollhouse Part 2 (2000)_ featuring a cozy home with toy cats and toy teasets. The subject of the painting — Hyunjin — had gone off to the _Picky Eater (2000)_ painting for some real food. 

"I'm not like a human when I'm a sculpture. I just stop and it feels natural," Jungeun explains, staring straight into the painted ceiling. 

"How so?" 

"In human terms, it's like I'm sleeping." 

"Oh."

Jungeun taps the space on the carpet next to her. "Try here. Anyway, to answer your question, this is the most recent one: which one of my names is better?" 

Haseul, who is now lying down on the carpet beside her, laughs. "That's your concern?" 

"I have nothing to be concerned about when I'm confined here." She turns around to face the other, resting her arm on the floor as she supported her head with a fist. "What do you think?" 

"I like both."

"Liar." 

"Fine! It's Kim Lip." 

"Why?" 

Haseul briefly gazed at the other's lips, but she looks back up just as quickly. "Sounds very chic." 

"That's it?" 

"You can be called _Lippie_ too. It's — well, it's not commonly used as a name, so it makes you outstanding just by a label. That's cool."

Jungeun stares at a neglected teapot on the floor. _Outstanding by a label,_ that was such an honorable description to be fit into. Though, that is thanks to Jinsoul's effort. 

"Anyway, enough about my opinion. What about you? Which one do you prefer?"

"I think I like Jungeun, because, you know, that was my original name. Thanks to Jinsoul. Kim Lip is okay, but it feels like a uniform." 

She rests her free hand on Haseul's, moving the other's fingers open to make space for her own to intertwine. 

"Okay, then I'll stop calling you that!" Haseul gets up and their hands separate. 

Jungeun feels a little disappointed. Maybe she didn't want to hold hands? 

Was she being too intimate? 

"Unnie! I'm not prohibiting you. Call me whatever you want." 

Haseul makes a face. "KIM. LIP. LIP. LIP. Lippie!" Then she swipes a toy cat and meows. _Meows._ "I love saying Lippie!" 

Laughing, Jungeun holds the cat as well, pushing it away. "Lippie loves you —" she coughs, "calling her that too." 

The smaller of the two laughs. 

"That sounded so awkward." She places the toy cat on the table. "Anyway, Jungie, I have to go. It's autumn and I don't want to go home making loud, crunchy noises. I could be heard by bad people or something." 

"Aww."

Haseul taps her chin. "I'll be back tomorrow." 

"Is autumn that bad?" 

"Not really, but your footsteps are extra loud especially if you walk by the forest." 

Jungeun feels like a koala — clingy. At the back of her mind, she knows she doesn't want Haseul to leave so soon. Especially since they're just. . . No, it's because she hadn't had her closure on the hand-holding part. 

_Selfish,_ says Jinsoul from somewhere (in her brain? She's a sculpture; does she have one?). _Disliking something that's necessary just because it leaves you something to keep you up at night is selfish._

The mirror stands next to the door. Haseul has already crawled out, because the _Abandoned Dollhouse Part 2 (2000)_ is back to its calm state. 

Jungeun picks up the neglected teapot on the floor and places it on the table before entering the mirror. When she looks back at the painting, Hyunjin is there and it's still. Like nothing touched it. Then she finds Haseul a few feet away, waiting for her. 

"I thought you're leaving?"

"I just want to formally say goodbye. So, goodbye!" 

Jungeun thinks Haseul is outstanding, even without a label. She smiles to herself as the other leaves the room, with careful footsteps and creaking door sounds.   
  


-  
  
  


One of the things that Jungeun noticed overtime — in a lapse of a month or two — was that Haseul stopped playing therapist.

Did she love it? Yes. It gives her the room to practice her conversational skills, like that one time Haseul got surprised by her offer — "Can I help you with cleaning?" 

That was yesterday. Haseul had smiled and gave her a rug. Then they spent the night cleaning and having casual conversations about the tourists they both saw that day. When the time was over, Haseul had this really, really sweet smile, and told her thank you for lot of times.

Today, Jungeun didn't want things to be any different. 

After springing back to life, swinging her arms back and forth, she jumps down the platform and goes over to the girl. "Hi, shall we clean today?" 

"We?" 

Jungeun blinks. 

"Yes, _we._ Can I help?" 

Haseul looks down at her cart, then at the corner of the room, then back to Jungeun. "But. . ." 

"Unnie? Is there something wrong?" 

"This is weird, J-Jungeun." 

"What is?" 

"I'm still not used to it. . ."

"Used to what?" 

Haseul shrugs. 

Jungeun adds, "I don't mind getting dirty." 

"Lippie, before you forget, you're a masterpiece in this room. _Literally._ I can't afford getting you dusty. I'd lose my job. . ."

"Isn't it summer?" 

"People come here a lot in summer. You're a hot topic." She's obviously straying away the conversation. 

"I'll be careful!" Jungeun reassures. " _Storage in the Ocean_ has water; I can get myself clean there. . ."

"Lippie. . ." Haseul takes a step back. This disappoints Jungeun, and it makes her feel as if she wants to wear more clothing — to comfort her in her shame. Her shoulders are cold. 

"I'll get to you once I'm done," she says, pushing the cart of cleaning materials away from the room. 

"Okay."

"You can hang around somewhere. If you'd like." 

"I can wait here." 

"I don't know how the CCTV never captures you," she mumbles, out of Jungeun's earshot, before opening the door and leaving the room. 

Hours passed and Jungeun killed the time by doing nothing but walking around and fidgeting and some lots of thinking. The person in her thoughts didn't return that night. 

Jungeun didn't want to lie; that hurt.   
  
  


-  
  
  


Days had passed, and Jungeun found herself almost springing to life without Haseul around. For twelve hours, she stays still, until she feels like she wants to move her limbs — _but_ then the door opens, _all_ the lights are turned on, and a pale, long-haired girl comes in. 

It's not Haseul. Haseul never turns all the lights on. Only the ones on Kim Lip's opposite side — the side she didn't need to block her left arm with. 

But she's pretty, alright. Upon closer inspection, she finds out that her name is Heejin. 

"Hey, Vivi-unnie," with a deep voice, Heejin talks to (someone) on her phone, which is resting between her head and shoulders. "I'm covering for unnie today. . . You were right, Jung Jinsoul is a great artist. . ."

Jungeun wants to agree and say _of course she is._

"There's this really pretty girl in some piece called _Abandoned Dollhouse Part 2._. . No, I am not crushing on a fictional girl!" 

She wonders what Hyunjin would say about this. 

". . . I don't see anything weird, though? Can Haseul-unnie see ghosts or something? She thinks this room is scary. . ." 

_Scary?_

"Kim Lip? Kim Lip, you say?" 

Suddenly, Heejin's eyes are on her. 

"Um, wait. Let me check." Heejin runs towards her and uses a feather duster to touch her. "Nothing wrong, just a little bit dusty."

Jungeun prevented herself to move. And she's a natural with it. 

"Talks? What?" Heejin lowers her phone and feather duster. "Hey, Kim Lip. Can you talk?" 

No response.

"Hey! Miss Kim Lip, you're scaring my friend. . ."

No response. 

"I volunteered to cover for her today because. . . I don't know, she doesn't feel okay for some reason. Maybe she'll warm up to attractive female sculptures soon enough, like. . . this girl! — what's her name? Ahhh, Olivia Hye!" 

Jungeun hopes that Olivia won't be returning back to life soon, because if she heard this, she'd be _reacting._

"Nothing!" Heejin reports to 'Vivi-unnie' on the phone. "Eh, maybe there's like an _on_ button or something. Like a doll?"

She scans Jungeun's dress, then says, "No button here. . . Maybe spending some time with her family will refresh her or something. T'was a good decision."

The conversation drags on and nothing about Kim Lip or Haseul is mentioned again. Heejin busies herself with cleaning and maintaining the place, before finally turning off the lights and closing the doors. 

When Jungeun is finally alone, she sits down on her platform, next to Olivia Hye, and wonders what was it that she did wrong. 

-  
  
  


Days passed by again, and Jungeun kept herself entertained within other paintings — _Delayed Affection (2002)_ and _Abandoned Dollhouse Part 1 (1997)._ She spends practically hours playing with the things she already played with, writing on notebooks she already wrote in, and talking to her follow art subjects about. . . whatever they already talked about. 

In _Delayed Affection (2002),_ Chaewon from _Picky Eater (2000)_ had practically pushed her off the bed. 

"I want to try this one too, unnie," she says softly with a smile. "Now please go somewhere else." 

"Ah, where can I find some respect around here. . ."

"Go outside and check your platform." She winks, then covers herself with the blanket. From across the room, a wide-eyed Hyunjin motions to the mirror. 

"You might like what you see."

"I don't trust you, Kim Hyunjin," she says, trusting their words as she exits using the mirror on the floor. She then lands on her hands rather than her feet, and when she looked up — 

"Haseul-unnie!" 

The person in question almost dropped her spraycan. 

"Sorry. . ." 

"It's fine, Lip." 

"Haseul-unnie, I missed you so much." She didn't know why she was saying it. Apparently, the person of her affections seemed to be confused as well — Haseul isn't responding. 

"Um, thank you?" 

"You're welcome." 

Haseul's eyes dart around the room. "Look, I have to go. The guard must've had their suspicions by now. Or something. I don't know." 

"Oh." Jungeun trembles as she stepped down from her spot. "This wasn't a problem before." 

"Look, Kim Lip," she says as if it's her first time saying that name ( _keem liiihp)_ , "Springtime is family time. It's my chance to meet them. I hope you understand. You know that, _right?_ " 

_You promised to go with me some time ago,_ Jungeun wanted to say. But if it's important to her, then. . . 

"I'm sorry, Kim Lip." 

"Er. . . I'm Jungeun." 

"Jungeun, then." It's like she couldn't care less. 

Finally, Jungeun nods, but she's looking at the floor. "Go if you have to." 

She could see Haseul bow from her peripheral vision, and not a minute later, the sound of the wheels went quiet, got interrupted by the creak of the door, then finally, silence.   
  
  


-

Haseul is there the next day. Jungeun wonders what she meant yesterday about it's her "chance to meet" her family. 

"What are you doing here?" 

Haseul flinches. Jungeun hates the reaction she's evoking. What's wrong with her, the sculpture, and why is _she_ acting scared? 

"Aren't you. . ." 

"Kim Lip, please. I have to do my job. The CCTV's watching."

"You told me that this is your chance to meet your family — springtime, right?" 

Haseul widens her eyes. "How did you know that?!"

"You told me."

"No, I didn't." She looks like she wanted to prove her point, but she loosens her grip on the mop and sighs. "Never mind, I must've forgot. Sorry for that outburst, Kim Lip." 

Jungeun didn't have energy to confront. She turns around and travels to the _Abandoned Dollhouse Part 2 (2000)_ painting, where Hyunjin looks at her in question. 

"How are you, Hyunjin?" 

"I'm good, unnie."

"Hope you don't mind me staying here."

Hyunjin nods, placing a toy cat on top of the sculpture to hug, before exiting the painting through the mirror. 

_What are you doing here?_ is a question Jungeun wanted to ask, but she didn't know who she wants to answer. 

Finally, after some time, she stands up and exits through the mirror, along with the toy cat, and looks for Haseul. Maybe they can finally talk things through. 

However, the room is empty, and from her own platform, is Yerim, who is shaking her head. 

"Did she see you?" 

"She was looking for you earlier. I think. She's walking around and everything. . . None of us were in her line of sight, if you're worried about that."

Jungeun grips the toy cat tightly. 

"Calm down, unnie! I'm sure both of you will be ready to talk soon."   
  
  


-  
  
  


The _Bite off the Hand that Feeds You_ collection is now minimally decorated with a couple of hearts hung up on walls, and cupids hanging by strings. There were even temporary pieces from Jinsoul herself placed in the room. Kim Lip never had a full chance to take a look and admire them until hours later. 

Most of the temporary pieces were about one-sided love or something. 

"Unnie, don't you want to take a look at the other one?" Yerim asks as they were resting by _Puppetstring Girlfriend (1997)_. "Chaewonnie said something about a restaurant date theme. We can eat new food!"

"You can go eat and travel." She messes with the younger's hair. "I'll wait for Haseul outside."

Yerim's smile drops. 

"Don't worry about me. Just go enjoy yourself." She smiles to convince her. 

"Hey, unnie, question. When you were spinning the arrows before, with Haseul, to which direction did you spin yours?"

"To the left. Counterclockwise." 

"And Haseul-unnie?"

"To the right. Clockwise." 

Yerim nods. "Okay. Do you know the importance of time?" 

"What is time when we're stuck in places like these forever?"

"It's a giver and a receiver. Don't take it for granted." Suddenly, Yerim brightens up again and exits through the mirror. "Bye-bye!"

"I hate time, then. It's too slow," she mumbles, playing with the strings on a puppet in the room she's in. "If I want to meet Haseul, I have to wait until it's time. If Haseul would leave, it's because it's time. It's always time." 

Jungeun kept on leaving and re-entering paintings, just to kill time before she actually meets Haseul. However, by some bad luck, she fails to step out when Haseul still had enough time inside the room.

The girl in uniform is now pushing her cart towards the door. 

"Haseul-unnie!"

"What?"

"Um, I'll see you tomorrow." 

Haseul chuckles nervously. "Yes. Sure. Um, let me get my job done first." 

"But. . . you're done?" Jungeun looks around. The room is practically spotless. "Haseullie." 

"I mean, I cleaned this first. I have to clean the other rooms next." 

This is a little embarrassing. Jungeun stiffens, but she manages to say that it's okay. There's another day tomorrow. 

"Sorry, Kim Lip." 

"Jungeun." 

"I prefer the Lip. It matches you." Then in a snap, Haseul's confidence is gone. She pushes the cart of cleaning materials away, and disappears slowly until she wasn't in the room anymore. 

"Unnie!" 

Nobody responded. Now alone and with nothing to do, Jungeun decided to climb inside the _Picky Eater_ painting, wherein the subject of the painting — Chaewon — is facing a lot of food on the table, while having a permanent disgusted expression on her face. 

"Hello. Can I have a bite?"

Chaewon removed the bib on her collar and waved a dismissive hand. "Do as you please, unnie." 

"What? Tired of eating these, I see." Jungeun pulled out a chair for herself and grabbed a bite from the food on the table. 

"So, how's things with you and Olivia? She's not springing back, is she?"

"No, but I think she's just resting. It's Hyunjin who comes here often. Says she's hungry." 

"Don't you want to roam around other paintings for a bit?" 

Chaewon stares at her for a while, and slowly, the older of the two feels uncomfortable. "You're here to distract yourself, right?"

"No." 

"What's up? Usually it's Hyejoo or Hyunjin coming here."

Jungeun hesitates. She's not used to talking about her problems around younger subject-of-the-art friends. "Haseul's not talking to me. It's like she doesn't know me at all." 

"It's February. Valentine's! People are busy with gifts and shit." 

"Why would she be busy? A couple months ago, it was _summer_ , but —" Jungeun sighs. It's an argument going nowhere. "Does she have a boyfriend that I don't know about?"

"Why? What are you two?"

"Aren't we friends?"

"Are you? I honestly thought that you two were more than that."

Jungeun can't repress things anymore. It's like Haseul is drowning their friendship, as if she wanted it to stop existing. "Don't get my hopes up. But — for Jinsoul's sake, she's confusing me! _First,_ on Day One, she acts like she knows me. But don't get me wrong, I've had the same feeling of familiarity. _Second,_ she's always like, "how are you Jungie?" on the first few weeks we've met. _Third,_ she's a good listener and she acts like my therapist. She's chivalrous and she used to offer her hand, and in that point in time we had a one-sided relationship." 

Chaewon nods. "And now?"

"Now, she's just. . . She acts as if she doesn't know me at all. After I began making the first move, as in — I ask about her and I try to make her open up to me, she's completely shying away. She's. . . making this whole thing one-sided again." 

"Wow, that's a lot. . ."

"Did you feel this way with Hyejoo too?"

"This isn't about us." 

Jungeun tries her best not to sulk in front of the younger, but she couldn't help it. Suddenly, Chaewon offers her a fruit. 

"I don't know what to say, but this probably helps: you two are different. You're a sculpture, she's a human. You're very different — from creation until," she shrugs, "destruction? Not that I want you destroyed. . ." 

Chaewon's words hurt the same way one is forcing your eyes open. So, Jungeun says, "Tell me more." 

"Your lifespans are different, too. Humans have an average lifespan of — I don't know, but Hyunjin said it's less than 200 years old nowadays — and you. . . can outlive her."

"More."

Chaewon sighs. "Hyunjin, help me out." 

Jungeun whips her head to see Hyunjin munching on some sandwich from the other end of the table. 

"You were here the whole time?!"

"Just now, unnie. I only heard the advice part." 

"Please snap her out of it." 

Hyunjin looks at Jungeun, and for the first time, the usually-chill girl made her feel. . . small. "You have feelings for Haseul-unnie, right?"

"No."

"You like her, right? You enjoyed her company, even if you did not do so initially. She lets you open up, she listens to you, and you liked the feeling of being taken care of. . . right?"

"I'm not answering that. I'm supposed to be your role model."

Hyunjin frowns, and Chaewon sighs. "Come on, unnie. Be honest. You helped us before, so let us reciprocate. Do you like her?" 

"Fine." She leans forward. "I love her company. She knows how to treat me, she's challenging my boundaries. She annoyed me back in Day One, but I can't stop thinking about her now! I hate her. For Jinsoul's sake, I _hate_ her."

"You do?" 

Hyunjin looks like she wanted to laugh. "Then you don't deserve to be with her."

Chaewon looks scandalized. 

"See, you're looking at _your_ benefits. She treats you right, she lets you open up, she improved you for the better. And now that she's not like that, you're saying that you _hate_ her?" 

Jungeun can't come up with a reply. 

"You're just like what Jinsoul created you. You hate the sun, but the sun is the one who provides for you." Then, Hyunjin softens, "Think it through, unnie. Please." 

"I just want to know why she's acting this way. . ."

"Yerim, please explain," Chaewon calls, and Yerim walks inside with a sheepish smile.

"You kids have to stop listening in to conversations!"

Yerim makes a peace sign. "Sorry, unnie. But now I'll get to the point. When you and Haseul-unnie visited my place to introduce us both. . ."

"I turned my arrow counterclockwise; she did clockwise. _What?_ "

"We just found out time works like that here!" 

"What?"

Yerim makes jazz hands. "Please don't kill us. We also didn't know!" 

"You mean —?"

"When you first met Haseul-unnie, that was actually the last day of her stay here. As time goes by, it's going to be her first day. She's going to be surprised. She's also scared, because we aren't supposed to be like _this —_ alive." 

"I'm sorry, Jungeun-unnie. . ." 

Jungeun tells them she's fine, and travels towards _Abandoned Dollhouse Part 2 —_ and there, she let all her tears fall.   
  


-

On Haseul's first day of work, as Jungeun had calculated with Yerim's help, there is nothing. . . weird with the _Bite of the Hand that Feeds You_ collection. 

The room is half-dark, and Kim Lip is posed as she is. Haseul is humming a song under her breath as she cleans the place, and the sculpture refused to react. 

When Haseul stands in front of Kim Lip, she smiles. Practically gushes. 

"Oh gosh, this is so beautiful! So, Kim Lip, huh? According to the caption. . . you're taking the light for granted!" She's removing the dust from the other's dress. "You must be cold, too. Wow. You're made so realistically, I wonder how it would be like if you're real." 

Kim Lip cannot take it anymore. She puts her arms down, turns her head towards the girl, and smiles. 

Haseul's jaw dropped, but she couldn't hide the blush from her face. "You are? Wow. You're— you're an actress pretending to pose?"

"No."

She laughs awkwardly. 

"Um, I'm real." 

Haseul's eyes widen, and she takes a step back. 

"Don't be scared! It's just. . . hard to explain."

Haseul looks close to crying. 

"Don't be scared. I promise, I will stay here, I won't move, and I'll let you be. Don't be scared. . . Don't tell this to anyone else, too. Please." 

"Okay. . ." Haseul nods slowly. "It's like you're my little secret." 

"Yes, your little secret." 

After Haseul cleaned up, she never went close to Jungeun again. Her shift ended with her taking off her gloves, and pushing the cart towards the door in a haste. But then, she stops, hesitating, and looked at Jungeun. 

"Hey, Kim Lip? I'll see you tomorrow." 

She didn't get a response. Jungeun remained unmoving. 

The next day, and the few weeks after that, Haseul never showed up. Jungeun would spring to life, and she would travel from paintings to paintings, and they were back to square one — as if Haseul never existed at all.   
  
  


-  
  
  


_Day One, twelve months previous_

Kim Lip was a classic in that museum. Positioned on the platform where her left arm is blocking light. Right arm behind her as if she's dancing. 

Jo Haseul was new during Day One, but she felt like someone whom Jungeun knew ever since. The manager showed her to the same room Kim Lip was in, and when the manager left, Haseul (the newbie) . . . sounded sad. With her cleaning materials. And the footprints of visitors on the floor. 

When the newbie wasn't looking, Jungeun stretched out her limbs and made the quietest exhale as possible. Olivia Hye did the same, too. 

However, the newbie turned around so fast and seemed shocked at Jungeun's presence. _Their_ presence. 

"Yeah." 

The newbie widened her eyes. Jungeun's eyes fell on the other's name tag — so her name is Haseul. 

"I _know_. I'm a sculpture and I'm alive. Olivia is, too." 

Olivia looked up at Haseul and nodded. "Hey." 

"No," Haseul massaged her temples. "Not that. You don't know." Then she mumbled something like, "Even I don't know either." 

Jungeun didn't know what Haseul was talking about, but she didn't want to pick up a fight, so she didn't answer. 

"Oh no, wait! I'm sorry." 

_Creep._

"Um, Jungeun?" 

That set off the alarm in her social dictionary. The sculpture turned around. "It's _Kim Lip_ for you, Haseul. How did you know that?" 

Haseul took a step back. 

Jungeun raised her eyebrows. 

"Um, you told me to call you. . ." 

"I never even spoke to you before." 

"It's hard to explain, Jungie." 

Jungeun rolled her eyes. They were wasting time here. "I'll see you around." 

Without looking back, she headed towards the far left of the room, where _The Clockmaker during the End of Time_ was. In there, she found Yerim, who had arrows of clocks sprawled all over the floor. 

"What's with all this mess?"

"I'm trying to figure something out."

"About what?"

"The difference of time between. . . Stuff. Ah, never mind. You won't care, unnie." 

Jungeun shrugged, sitting on the floor. "Suit yourself."

**Author's Note:**

> "Paintings"/painting titles inspired by LOONA MVs:
> 
> Abandoned Dollhouse Part 2 (2000) - Around You  
> Picky Eater (2000) - One and Only (long table scene)  
> Delayed Affection (2002) - Kiss Later (the 2 sets with the bed)  
> (*P.S. I don't mean to deliver a diff message with Kiss Later's title, it's literally just the name itself re-worded.)


End file.
